Detroit Tigers: An ode to Jacoby Jones

The Detroit Tigers recently designated JaCoby Jones for assignment. We look back at his career in Detroit and the memories he provided to me as a fan.

In one of the final moves by David Dombrowski made as Detroit Tigers GM, on July 15, 2015, he traded Joakim Soria to the Pittsburgh Pirates for JaCoby Jones, who was playing the infield for the Altoona Curve.

Jones would split time in between two seasons of Arizona fall ball, Erie and Toledo. The day he hit the first home run of his Double-A career in Erie was a special one. He would go on to hit three home runs that day against the New Britain Rock Cats.

Another favorite memory of mine was he being mic’d up during a March spring training this year against the Phillies. Videos like this can be cheesy but this a great behind the scenes on a player before and during a game.

JaCoby Jones broke into the Major Leagues just as the Detroit Tigers competitive window was closing. He played 13 games in 2016 when the Tigers went 86-75, good for a second-place finish in the American League Central.

Since then, Jones and the Tigers have limped through five years together in a rollercoaster marriage. The team has gone just 222-380, good for a meager .369 winning percentage. Despite the team’s struggles, Jones has been a fan favorite over the years and it is sad to see him go. I am going to break down Jones’ time here in Detroit through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good on JaCoby Jones in a Detroit Tigers uniform

JaCoby Jones never batted over .268 in a season and posted a .212 batting average with the Detroit Tigers, but he showed flashes of what could have been during various points of his career. One stretch that stands out, in particular, is Jones’s 12-game hitting streak in late May and early June of 2019. After doing some digging, I found a Detroit Free Press article by Anthony French referencing this particular stretch. In the span of 14 games, Jones batted .420 with 4 home runs and 20 RBIs. Until 2021, Jones always seemed to have one similar stretch in him each season, giving the fans hope that he would put it all together for a full season at some point.

In addition to his streaky outbursts from the batter’s box, JaCoby Jones made some stellar catches from his spot in centerfield. All one has to do is go on Twitter and search “Jacoby Jones Catch” to see an abundance of web gems from the outfielder.

Here Jones races back to the wall and takes a long-ball away from future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers. Once again, plays like this gave the Detroit Tigers’ faithful fans hope that he would pan out into something special.

The Bad on JaCoby Jones in a Detroit Tigers uniform

For a player recently cut by a team that has been meddling towards the bottom of their division for years, it is difficult to separate the bad from the ugly. JaCoby Jones’ tenure in the Olde English D had its fair share of struggle, and one statistic that always stood out to me was his strikeout rate. While Jones would have hot streaks, there was always a potential for him to get sent packing after three strikes. His strikeout rate throughout his six years with the Detroit Tigers was a sky-high 33%. In the meantime, the Major League average during the same time was 22.3%. Striking out 1 in every 3 at-bats is categorized as “bad”, especially paired with a 6% walk rate.

From an analytical standpoint, it would be unjust to expect much more than a 0-2.0 WAR Rating, which is the average rating for a reserve player. Jones posted his best WAR in 2018, at 1.8 Wins Above Replacement. Outside of 2018, Jones had three negative WAR outputs and a 0.5 show in  2020. This type of production will lead the Front Office to make the unfortunate decision to cut a player.